The joint venture led by South Korean firm Miru Systems Company Limited is still the lone bidder in the Commission on Elections second round of bidding on Monday for the procurement of the new automated election system for the upcoming 2025 midterm national and local elections after being declared as ineligible last bidding.

While Miru is the only firm that has submitted bids, the Special Bids and Awards Committee or SBAC confirmed that five more companies purchased bidding documents but did not submit bids. These companies include Dominion Voting Systems, which acquired documents on 3 January, Indra Philippines, Inc., on 4 January, AMA Group Holdings Corp., on 4 January, and Smartmatic or SMMT-TIM 2016, Inc., on 5 January, which was disqualified by the Comelec for the 2025 polls.

According to Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco, the secretariat did not accept Smartmatic's bid, and they have not received a temporary restraining order despite the service provider filing a petition to the Supreme Court.

"Smartmatic bought the bid documents, but earlier this morning, their representative intended to submit the bid tender. However, in accordance with the Commission on En Banc's decision on election matters, the secretariat did not accept the bid tender. Additionally, the Comelec did not receive any temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction from the Supreme Court," Laudiangco said.

When asked what process would be done if the lone bidder fails to meet SBAC's requirements, Laudiangco stressed that the Comelec could proceed with either a negotiated procurement or a third public bidding.

"We have two options under Republic Act 9184. First, we can opt for the alternative method of procurement known as negotiated procurement, which is stated in the rules. This method can be pursued when there have been two bidding failures. Negotiated procurement is similar to competitive bidding but is more abbreviated, resulting in a quicker selection of bidders and involving a negotiation phase,"

"Another option retained by the Comelec is to conduct a third public bidding. The Comelec is not bound to immediately shift to the alternative method if two public biddings fail, so there is still an option to conduct a third public bidding," Laudiangco said.

The spokesperson assured that the SBAC will review all processes diligently to ensure a successful procurement.

"There is a procurement process in place that ensures the success of our procurement. Firstly, the eligibility check we conducted today evaluates legal, technical, and financial capabilities. However, our procurement experts suggest that after clearing the eligibility check, the real challenge lies in the post-qualification evaluation. All documents submitted today and those to be submitted, if declared as the lowest calculated bid, will be evaluated by our technical working group and the Special Bids and Awards Committee. We will validate all submitted, completed, or ongoing documents. The SBAC and technical working group have the authority to request ratings, success rates, or failure rates of the projects submitted. That's why here at Comelec, we're not worried because there is a process in place for evaluation,"

Laudiangco added that Comelec is confident in meeting the procurement timelines, stating that they will conduct various tests as the project progresses.

"Moving from the first, second, third, or fourth bidding, or even resorting to an alternative method of procurement, is also factored into Comelec's planning. So far, we are confident in meeting the timelines, and we still have one year to produce, customize, and evaluate. After this, the most crucial step is conducting a local source code review, end-to-end testing, and obtaining international certification. All these tests mandated by our laws will guarantee a higher success rate in our procurement. Just because the procurement process is completed doesn't mean immediate implementation. It will undergo a battery of tests,"

"As the project progresses, we will conduct field tests and mock elections. So, before we roll everything out to the public, it will undergo testing," Laudiangco said.

The submission of the bid by the lone bidder is currently undergoing the eligibility checking process, where its financial envelope will be opened once declared eligible. If Miru passes the eligibility test, it will proceed to the post-qualification evaluation, which can take anywhere from seven to 30 days.